Ganon Prince of Thieves
by KK6665Player
Summary: The young Prince of Gerudo Valley is slowly learning his duties before his coronation to become the King. What surprises does he have waiting in store? Pre OoT.
1. After the Raid

The young Prince sat in front of the bonfire outside in the night, admiring its colors as it danced along with the other thieves. It had been another successful raid. The girls were dancing about the fire as ceremony, as well as their own enjoyment. The Prince watched their swift legs and arms move with the beat, their clothes swish around after them, the veils over their faces twirl. It was enchanting – and not in that twisted 19-year-old way, either.

The drumbeat kept the dance at a steady pace. While some girls danced, others drank or ate, and still others marveled at the stolen goods in their laps. They were all gathered by the large fire in the center of their town, relieved to be back in their homeland.

Ganon sat on top of a crate with a cup in his hand and watched the scene. A few girls stood by his side with their weapons ready in case anyone tried to come and murder their king, but Ganon felt more carefree today. The raid was a success and his people were happy. At the time, that was all that had mattered to him.

From behind the Gerudo, a woman came up to him.

"My liege," said a voice.

Ganon turned his head a bit. "What is it, Hanin?"

The girl in red garbs bowed her head a little to him. "I apologize to interrupt, but I must remind you…"

The Prince rolled his eyes and took a sip from his cup. "I already know that I need to keep an eye out. You don't need to tell me."

Hanin nodded to herself and turned to walk away. "Of course."

Ganon turned his attention back to the dancers. Soon losing interest in them, he looked around at his people. There was one girl that caught his eye, along the side of one of the adobe houses nearby. She was in all white clothing, but otherwise dressed like all the other raiders. One of the older Gerudo – maybe the girl's mentor – came over and smacked her across the face, angrily, and seemed to be yelling at her. The girl in white sneered and furiously tied on her veil, came over to the fire and began to dance.

It was obvious she didn't want to be there – even from behind her veil. Her steps – though toned and swift – were fiery and quick. The other dancers got out of her way and some even stopped their dance to go off and do something else. This girl was irritated by whatever that woman had told her and wasn't afraid to let out her frustrations.

Ganon stood up from his crate and set his cup down. "I'll be back," he told the thieves that were standing watch nearby. He dashed into the area where the girls danced.

A few gasped and others stopped to stare as the Prince of Thieves approached the girl in white. The dancers stopped, all aside from the rebellious one, and stepped away. Now, the two were the only ones moving.

The girl paused for the briefest of moments – complete frustration clear in her eyes – and then drew her dual swords and held one above her head, the other across her stomach. She continued to dance around Ganon.

Now, although the Prince wasn't a trained thief like she and the other Gerudo were, he knew a thing or two about fighting. Ganon called out to have someone toss him a sword and the instant it was in his hand, the real 'dance' began.

The girl twirled her swords in her hands and brought them down to her sides from where she stood. From behind her veil, she smirked and swung both swords, slashing at Ganon's middle. He quickly blocked with the single sword he had, pushed hers away from him, and lunged forward with a vertical stroke of his own. The girl caught his blade with her two and took a step backwards to widen her stance so to hold it. The swords were very close to her head. Her arms shook a bit as Ganon pressed the blade down, trying to break her grasp. Suddenly, the girl released the blade and jumped out of the way before it could hit her. Ganon blinked, and then took a look to his left to see her in the dust, crouching with her swords in a defensive position. She stood.

"A lively creature," he huffed.

The girl just winked, jumped up into the air, and held one of her weapons forward, to which the Prince swatted her away with his own, causing her to fall to the ground. She caught herself with her arms and had to move quickly as Ganon came at her again. She rolled onto her back – extremely close to the bonfire, now – and held up one sword to protect herself as the Prince's came down. It was a battle of strength, now. The girl tried to lift up her other weapon to join up in her force, but Ganon knocked it away by hitting her wrist and causing it to fly.

The male was panting a bit as he pressed down on his blade. The one on the ground just merely kept her eyes focused on the two weapons dangerously close to her.

"Give in?" Ganon asked.

Her eyes narrowed threateningly. It was then that she planted her left hand into the sand and lifted her right foot to kick his arm and dispatching his sword from his hand. The Prince hit the ground, and didn't have time to recollect himself before the girl was sitting on his chest with the sharp end of her sword pressed down on his neck. Her head was inclined towards him, and her red hair was slung over one of her shoulders. From this angle, Ganon could see beads of sweat on her forehead and on the rim of the veil. She was panting. The male Gerudo's eyes narrowed. He took a deep breath.

"You're impressive," he said. "With the sword, with agility…"

Her weapon slacked a bit as he spoke.

"You win," he admitted, holding his hands up. "You can let me go, now…"

The thief's eyes narrowed and she cocked an eyebrow. After a moment, she stood and picked up her other sword from the sand, sheathed them, and turned around to walk away. The on looking Gerudo kept their eyes on her as she headed off, and none of them even noticed as Ganon stood quickly, came up behind her, and twisted her around at the waist. She gasped loudly, as did everyone else, as her balance was thrown off and she began to fall. She closed her eyes… When the thief looked again, she was in Ganon's arms – which had thankfully caught her from her fall – and he held her veil in his hands. The girl's eyes widened.

"Nabooru," he laughed. "I really didn't expect any less from you…"

Nabooru crossed her arms over her chest. "Let go of me…"

Ganon grinned and set her right side up on her feet. Nabooru flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and held out her hand. The Prince set her veil into it. She smiled cockily as thanks, and spun around sharply, tying the veil to her belt.

Hanin came up to the 19-year-old. "Sir, what was with such rebellious behavior? You acted most disrespectfully!"

Ganon smirked and kept his eyes focused on Nabooru as she strutted away. "I suppose her personality is contagious."

--

That night, Nabooru had been punished by Kanji and forced to sleep on the roof of the girl's dorm where she stayed. But Nabooru didn't care. She had gotten her revenge on the Prince that night and that was all that had mattered. Besides: it wasn't that cold tonight.

Nabooru lay down on the mat they gave her and tucked her hands behind her head. Her eyes were focused on the stars.

"That dumb Prince… who does he think he is?!" she muttered angrily to herself. "He lives here surrounded by girls! Not to mention he's pampered. He gets _everything_ he wants when asked for, while the rest of us have to work to get only half of that!"

The redhead glanced off to one side, away from Gerudo Valley and out to the distant Hyrule field.

"And he'll be able to leave this rat hole whenever he feels like visiting somewhere else…" she added to herself, almost sadly. After a moment she grunted and looked back up at the stars. "Whatever…I don't need a king or a prince or anyone to take care of me!"

And with that, a sudden thunk was heard beside her. The thief jumped and glanced to her side to see the Prince himself.

"So that's what you think of me, eh?"

Nabooru wrinkled her nose at him and folded her arms over her chest. "Why are you here?"

Ganon smiled and looked up at the sky. "I like to come up on the rooftops and look at constellations. But then I heard the voice of a dying animal and had to come here and check."

Nabooru hissed in offence, "Watch it! I kicked your butt earlier and I can do it again, even without my swords!"

He turned and gave her an amused look. "So, then, why does it look like you're going to be sleeping up here?" The girl's face fell and her shoulders dropped. Ganon chuckled and took one step closer to her. "If you're planning on becoming the leader of the thieves, you've got to pull yourself together. No one tolerates stuff like that out there." With that statement, he nodded towards the bit of Hyrule field that could be seen.

Nabooru didn't look. She pulled her knees close to her chest, ashamed. "I've already been yelled at. You don't need to scold me."

Ganon sighed heavily and sat beside the 17-year-old girl. "I'm sorry."

She just hugged her knees closer to herself.

"They banned me from the next raid for what I did. The old hags down there… they all hate me. They want me gone just because I'm going to be better than them one day!"

Then, to both of their surprise, Ganon laughed loudly, throwing his head back. Nabooru sat straight up and looked at him. The Prince caught himself by this point but didn't stop laughing.

"Wow, can I relate to that!" he chuckled, calming himself as he spoke.

Nabooru cocked an eyebrow at him and caught his gaze. "What do you mean?"

Ganon waved his hand nonchalantly. "It's nothing really… I just find it amusing that you said that."

For several hours after that, they sat up on the rooftop together chatting about the Gerudo, the desert, and virtually everything they called home. Eventually they found themselves lying beside each other, looking up at the stars and talking about constellations.

"That's Din's Fire over there," Nabooru said, pointing. "You can only see it in summer, obviously, and it's supposed to lead one towards Gerudo Valley. In the nighttime, sometimes the thieves use it to feel for a sense of direction. Although _I've_ never really found it useful…"

Ganon hummed beside her and observed the set of stars that she had pointed to, tracing the pattern with his eyes. "As a Prince, the other thieves have always been sure to protect me whenever I go out on a raid or hunt with them. In all honesty, though I 'know' all of what I'm supposed to do, I've never really had the chance to put any of my skills into action. They won't let me."

Nabooru's eyes widened, and she turned her head towards the Prince. "But… today! At the raid! You saved seven women from being discovered by stepping out in the open and distracting the Hylian soldiers!"

He shook his head. "That's just charisma… I haven't really been able to fight. And…honestly, I really want to."

Nabooru chuckled to herself and looked at her toes. "I fought you…"

"And as you saw I didn't stand a chance."

The crimson haired girl grinned widely at this. Then she felt a wash of guilt.

"I didn't ask to be the King," he muttered. "Though I'm supposed to feel grateful. I'm the only male, I have strength, power…"

Nabooru huffed and tried to blow some stray hair from her face. "Sounds like someone's not as 'powerful' as they're cracked up to be."

There was silence.

When she looked over at the Prince he had discomfort on his face. Nabooru sighed and shifted so she was looking away from him.

"Sorry. I'm used to saying things like that…as you should know…"

"I remember…" he murmured.

So did she.

When Nabooru was younger, she absolutely loathed the future King. She had gone to extents to show that she hated him that much to the other thieves. They called it 'treason' to speak such things about the young king. But to her, it was just enjoyment and…well, venting! She hated that a whole civilization of women looked so weak against him, how they had no choice but to worship him if they wanted to survive… and Nabooru didn't mind telling everyone that – even one of the lead thieves, Hanin.

As everyone had guessed the day came that a few guards were fed up with her disrespect and her tyranny… even 'if' she was only a child. They drug her to the Prince's throne room and demanded that he take action to punish her. Yet, the young Gerudo had laughed and insulted him. She promised them all that he wouldn't do anything to her because he was a coward.

The thieves had beaten her and drew blood on the young girl at her words.

The Prince had sat in his throne, petrified. The child didn't know how to help her… and then she screamed. She cried out in pain for help – cursing the goddesses. It sounded almost like the thieves were going to kill her right there in front of the Prince.

Ganon stood from the chair and shouted at them. He cursed, as well – the young 13-year-old Gerudo boy – and threatened to have each guard in the room be put to death if they didn't step away from her. Nabooru was collapsed on the animal-skin rug, staining it, yet when he had come close she cringed and scooted away.

"Get away from me you curse of Naryu," Nabooru muttered to herself, staring at the bricks on the floor.

Ganon looked back over at her. "That's what you said to me."

She nodded. "I'm not sorry for it either. You 'are' a curse to the Gerudo…we're basically forced to worship you with our lives and bodies… all because of Naryu. She left us here with 'you' as our only hope to survive. Your kind only come every one hundred years. That's a curse in my eyes."

Her mouth and skin felt fiery as she spoke to him like that. She'd regret it later, she knew, but for now it felt like revenge for what he was doing to her and the other Gerudo. It felt like fire. Just like when she'd fought him and won.

"I'll prove you wrong," he said. "I'm going to make myself the best Gerudo King they've ever had."

Nabooru sighed and rolled her eyes. "How?"

"I'm going to learn every weaponry skill there is and master it…I'm going to learn magic, too."

Now the thief girl sat up. "From who? Fool…No one in the desert knows any magic other than…" Her golden eyes filled to the brim with fear when she got a look of his face. "You can't be serious!"

Ganon nodded. "I'm willing to do anything to prove to you that I 'am' worth something."

Nabooru's shoulders dropped. "I didn't mean for you to throw your life away like that! Are you crazy?!"

"Maybe to you."

Now he was just irritating. Her bronze face was full of heat and anger. "Have more respect!"

Ganon just cocked an eyebrow at her. Nabooru tucked her legs under herself and wished she had her swords…

"All that us girls are ever going to be remembered for are being thieves," she sighed. "Yet the Kings… Fahad the Fearless, Ramzi the Black Stallion, Haydar the Navigator… they'll all be remembered forever. No one will remember Nabooru. I'm never going to have a title or an event named after me like all you Kings… even the Queens are very few remembered. And you know that none of the Kings can afford to marry anymore. You'll be remembered no matter what you do! You don't need to toss yourself away to train and even more so to those…things just for something you're already guaranteed to have!" she trailed off and shivered.

The Prince sat up and turned his whole body so he was facing her.

"You see this?" he pointed to the crystal on the center of his head. Nabooru nodded. "You have one just like it," Ganon continued, putting his other hand on the crystal in the center of her own forehead. "We're the same. We're both Gerudo – male or female. Whether you're remembered or not…it doesn't matter. You need to do whatever it is that makes you happy, and I'll do the same."

Nabooru laughed and grabbed his wrist, removing it from the orange crystal. "If you're planning on training like you mentioned, I can only hope you'll be able to stand after the first session!"

Ganon chuckled. "Thanks…" They sat there for a while, saying nothing. "You know…" he began, "This is the only time I've talked to a girl properly. Any time that I've spoken to a girl it was either a servant or guard or…well…" he trailed off, a bit red in the face.

Nabooru shuddered and looked away. "So they've forced you to start doing that, eh?"

"It's not like I have much of a choice," he admitted.

Now Nabooru was nervous. She found herself inching away from him as unnoticeably as she could.

Ganon glanced at her form the corner of his eye. "If I'm making you uncomfortable I'll just leave."

He stood up and proceeded to walk off towards a ladder that was up against the wall. Nabooru felt a lump well up in her throat and said weakly, "W-wait…"

Those sandy gold eyes only looked back for a moment. "I don't want you to be unhappy around me, Nabooru."

She felt oddly puzzled by his words. She hated him… every Gerudo knew as much. But it seemed like she wanted to talk to him more – not as the Prince of her people, but as…a friend. Like he was someone she had merely known since her childhood – not someone she'd loathed and despised since then.

Nabooru bit her lip and sighed heavily, dropping her head a bit. These thoughts were confusing her…

Ganon looked down at the thief on the ground. He stared down at her for a moment before stepping next to the ladder and proceeding to crawl down it. Nabooru hugged her knees close to her chest and hid her face in the hollow of her arms.

--

The next morning was a mess. Left and right, Ganon was being lectured by the older women that he shouldn't have left and been out as late as he was. He rolled his eyes at the comments.

It wasn't until a set of people came into the room that all became still.

They were covered from head to toe in thin black robes. Their faces were hidden under hoods, yet everyone knew who they were. The thieves in the throne room backed away as the two figures entered, muttering to each other. Ganon shifted in his seat and straightened himself out. The two stopped in front of him.

"Dearest Prince," said one of the dark hooded figures, bowing her head.

"We request a word with you," said the other, also bowing.

Ganon stared down at the two. He opened his mouth to say something, but one of them cut him off with, "In private."

The Gerudo chewed the inside of his cheek, nervously. He stood from the throne and looked over at the other thieves. None of them said a thing. Ganon looked back down at the two and nodded.

"Alright… Come with me, then."

They both lifted their heads again at the same time and followed Ganon. He went for the back exit of the throne room – merely a place made for studying and also private meetings like this. Politely, he held back the curtains so that the two could pass through before he did. Mentally, he could feel his advisors and lead thief's come towards the door to eavesdrop.

"Tell them to go," one of them said.

"They'll overhear."

Ganon nodded and stuck his head back into the other room. The Gerudo all jumped while their prince just gave them a look that told them to go away. Slowly, they began to disappear from the throne room. Ganon quickly took the shoulder of one of the guards in purple garb. He pulled her close to him, his lips close to her ear. She made a squeak and shut her eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered as lightly as he could. "I want you to set up a band of guards outside the throne room and not let anyone in. If they ask why, don't say anything. Just tell them that the Prince told you to."

The frightened Gerudo girl slowly nodded several times before Ganon released her and disappeared back into the other room.

The two people were standing where they had been before, side by side. They both waited silently until they were positive that the girl had disappeared with the Prince's orders.

Finally, the others in the room removed their hoods.

"Twinrova," Ganon said with a nod.

The two sorceress women looked almost exactly alike. They each had large eyes, many wrinkles, decorated outfits and headpieces, as well as a floating broomstick that each sat on. The only differences were that one had a blue gem on the center of her head while the other had red, and that one had hair like ice, the other like fire. The two were dangerous – extremely so – and wouldn't be afraid to kill you on the spot if you said or did something that they disapproved of. But, for some reason, the sorceress sisters listened to Ganon and even seemed to respect him more than the other Gerudo so he wasn't quite as scared…

"Your coronation is coming," said the red one. "And there are many things you have yet to learn."

"You must be ready," the blue one tagged on. "Kotake, wouldn't you agree that the Prince has neglected us more than he should?"

Kotake nodded and looked at Ganon. "You have also been dishonest. We have seen what's happened."

The Prince's eyes widened. "You did?"

Both nodded sternly and flew up beside him. "Koume," Kotake snipped, "You agree on what we saw last night?"

Koume stared down at Ganon. "Wholeheartedly. We saw you lying about with that girl on the rooftop last night."

"When you were supposed to come and see us," the red sister added.

"Offence is not taken lightly, even by a Prince!"

Ganon looked at the ground. "I know…I apologize for my misdoings. It was dishonorable of me."

"Not only dishonorable!" Kotake shouted. "If you wish to be a great King you must train!"

"You are not ready!"

Ganon bit his lip and looked up at the displeased sisters. "I understand. I shall train harder and cease from being taken up by distractions. I wish to make my people proud of me."

Koume and Kotake looked at each other with their big eyes. Ganon couldn't tell what they were thinking.

"Perhaps the young Prince isn't our problem," Koume hummed.

"Perhaps it's that girl," Kotake continued.

Ganon cocked and eyebrow and glanced between the two. "What are you planning on doing…?"

"Maybe," Koume said through a wrinkled smile, "We should dispose of 'that' problem so that the Prince may continue with his proper duties."

His eyes widened and his blood pulsed with alert. "What?!"

"A wonderful suggestion, my sister," Kotake agreed. "A blunder such as this can only be caused by two. Our young Prince hasn't done wrong…"

"It is the girl at fault here."

Ganon's hands were shaking under his armbands. "Wait…Twinrova, this isn't necessary! You shouldn't have to punish her for something that I have done!"

The sisters both cackled in a strange voice. "Disposing of her shall solve our problems!" Kotake laughed.

"And ridding her will be simple!" Koume agreed. They began to float towards the curtain to leave and Ganon went to draw his sword when something red flashed out from behind a large bookshelf.

"You shall kill none of our people!" called out a voice. Ganon recognized it and couldn't respond quickly enough beyond drawing his cutlass fully.

All he saw was a flash of bright blue and red light, which made Ganon step back and cover his eyes with one hand. There was a long, tortured shriek of pain…

When the light had cleared and Ganon looked up again, he saw Twinrova floating over the body of his right-hand thief, Hanin, who had a smoking gouge in the middle of her chest. The Prince's eyes widened and he stumbled back even more.

Twinrova looked at him and stared at him with their bulgy eyes. "This is your warning, your highness," Koume hissed.

"If that girl gets in the way again, this will be her fate."

Ganon stared down at Hanin's unmoving body. He trembled a bit and looked up at Twinrova. They stared at him, waiting for an answer.

Finally, he got down on one knee and bent over, setting his cutlass to the ground. "I understand… I shall make her my new advisor… so that you and all the other thieves can watch her… I will not disappoint you again."

With that, the sisters said in unison, "Yes, my liege," and disappeared from the room.

Ganon slowly lifted his head to see his dead advisor on the floor. He stood up and approached her body.

Hanin had saved Nabooru… not only that, she had saved 'him.' He bent over and lifted the veil from her face, removing it. She was a wonderful thief – how else would have Koume and Kotake not have noticed her? – and a trustworthy leader. Ganon took the veil and crushed it in his hand as he stood. "Her loss won't be in vain," he said profoundly. Then two girls in white came bursting into the room with their blade-ended staffs prepared in front of them.

"We heard a scream and the guards wouldn't let us in! Wha… by the Goddesses! What happened?!"

--

**Author's comments:**

**Here we go with my first Legend of Zelda fic for this site. As you can hopefully tell, it's going to be focused on Ganon for the most part with bits of Nabooru filled in. I felt like I sped this up just a little too much plot-wise, but I think it'll be okay. (Also note that I call Koume and Kotake Twinrova sometimes. That's just what the twins are called when I don't want to address each one individually.**

**Anyway, please review and share your thoughts/suggestions.**

**~KK**


	2. The Prince's Advisor

Nabooru sat with her legs crossed, leaning back against the wall from her crate as the other prison guards around her talked. They were chatting senselessly about the Prince's mysterious disappearance last night and how – wherever he had gone – arrived in his quarters late at night and was in massive amounts of trouble. No one knew if he had been with someone or if he'd been alone, but his advisor and bodyguards had known nothing of it until he returned. In result, he had been thoroughly chewed out this morning.

It's what he deserves for wasting his time around me…

The prison was pretty much empty at the moment aside from one captive, whom was to be taken away today anyway. There was a short table surrounded by a few stools and crates with weapons and cups of wine for the few girls that wanted to drink. They were very interested in today's round of gossip.

"I heardthat Hanin was going to take him out to the shooting grounds and strap him to the back of a scared horse," one of the girls chuckled, sharpening her spear with a rock.

Another covered her laughs with her hand. "I doubt Hanin would do something like that. She's far too calm with him. Probably would just throw around a threat or two… she acts like a mother, not an assistant. I doubt she'd ever really hurt him for anything."

"Kanji would," a third added with a nod.

All the girls around agreed with that.

"The old woman has the guts to take on the Goddesses, were she allowed," the first girl said, setting her weapon down.

"She's not 'that' old," added a new, shyer, girl who hadn't added into the conversation until now.

"Lara's right," the second mentioned, "Kanji's just angry a lot."

The first shrugged and leaned back. "We've gotten off the topic. I don't know about you girls, but I want to know who the Prince was with last night."

Nabooru huffed and finally jumped into the conversation.

"Alecia, why're you so persistent to talk about the Prince? Lara, Rida, Dimah, and I don't need to hear it."

The three listed were friends of Nabooru – or as close to friends as she could get as a guard in the prison – and Alecia was one of the people she disliked more than others.

Alecia glared and brushed her bangs away from her eyes. "Come now, Nabooru, you _know_ that you're just as curious as everyone else in this place. It's not often that the Prince gets in trouble for something."

Nabooru rolled her eyes and leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees. "That jerk? I figured that you of all people would know how I hate him. I care more about what the King of the Zora had for breakfast than _his_ mischief."

Alecia snarled. Rida – the second girl that had spoken earlier – barked more loudly, "Stop arguing, would ya? You girls really need to get over yourselves!"

Nabooru stared at her. Unlike the others, Rida had her hair cut short. Like Nabooru, she had disrespected the King. Only, Rida's mistake had been much greater and cost her hair, as well as all honors she had left as a thief.

Both girls sat back in their seats and looked away like children. Rida rolled her eyes and looked over at Nabooru.

"By the way, what was that fight with the Prince yesterday? Kanji kept yelling at us until bed about disrespect and honor."

Dimah sat on the edge of her stool and folded her hands together, using them to support her chin. "I couldn't sleep last night! I kept worrying about what would happen to you at the next raid!"

"Tch," Nabooru sighed. "It was nothing. He just came up to me and I was already pretty pissed at Kanji. It was just a spur of the moment thing."

"But you 'beat' him!" Rida exclaimed.

"No one's ever done that!" Dimah agreed.

"You've never really seen him fight, aside from training, though," Nabooru countered.

The two girls' faces fell.

Lara added in quietly, "I thought it looked like a dance…"

Everyone looked at her quickly, including Alecia. Nabooru's face was full of color.

"That's… a good point," Dimah agreed slowly.

Nabooru bit her lip as they all turned to look at her.

Alecia's face showed that she was angry, too. "Were 'you' the one with the Prince last night?!"

Rida waited with expectant eyes, Dimah leaned forward, and Lara barely looked up, apologetic for putting her on the spot. Nabooru stood from her crate.

"Every time I see, talk about, or scarcely _think _about that man my blood boils! My skin burns and my mouth goes dry! Every time I see him, I wish for my blades!"

The girls were surprised by her response. Dimah sat straight up.

"It sounds to me… that out of all of us, you've fallen hardest for him."

Nabooru's eyes widened and her lip twitched. She drew her swords and caused the others to shriek and fall off their seats.

"Don't say things like that!" she screamed at them, getting into a fighting stance.

The three looked at her with fearful expressions, especially Lara. Alecia, however, had stood and drew her own weapons.

"You're an idiot," she hissed. "You know that, Nabs?"

The Gerudo glared and snarled at the back of her throat. "You'll pay!"

Nabooru charged with her swords prepared. Alecia responded with a similar approach.

"Stop!"

Everything froze in its place as a new face stepped into the room. She was dressed in dark green – an uncommon thing to see in the Gerudo Valley. Her hair was in the typical ponytail, but had a braid or two mixed in with it. A thick veil covered her face and her earrings reached the middle of her neck. Her makeup was dark and she had a large staff in her hand.

"There is news," the girl announced. "And I don't want to have to baby-sit you while I tell."

Nabooru lowered her swords as she spoke. "What is it?"

The woman straightened her back. "Hanin's been murdered."

Everyone's eyes widened and Lara stifled a gasp.

"How?!"

The soldier kept her stern stance while she explained, "The twins had killed her in the Prince's conference room. We know no more than that. Her body was found unexpectedly with the Prince by two guards."

"How do you know it was the twins?" Dimah asked, shakily.

"It was clearly a magical injury," she explained. "A smoking gouge in her chest: the twins were the only explanation."

Nabooru's heart dropped. What were the twins doing in the Prince's conference room? Along with the Prince and Hanin? What other explanation was there? Did he…?

"Johara," Alecia addressed, using the soldier's name, "What is the Prince to do about all of this?"

Johara turned to face Alecia. "He plans to choose a new advisor immediately."

Alecia nodded.

Nabooru's skin prickled as Johara said this. To cover up her emotions, she slowly sheathed her weapons. "And what of Hanin?"

"Her body is going to be buried tonight. Put those swords away, Alecia. Fool…" and then she muttered something about her being a 'lowlife prison guard' before continuing, "That is all I was to tell you. You girls must keep up good behavior if you want to be chosen as his advisor. Do so wisely."

With that, Johara turned sharply and left the prison.

As soon as the green-clad Gerudo had left, Rida turned to speak to Nabooru, but she had somehow slipped out without the others noticing.

--

The white-clad guard strutted through the fortress with her hands clenched in fists. She kept her eyes focused on the up-turned toes of her shoes as she headed for an open walkway on the bottom floor of the fortress.

"Poor Hanin…" she muttered to herself. "Being chained to him like that. I'm pitiful for the sorry soul that is going to be strapped to him next."

Nabooru found the place she was looking for and entered it.

The room was large, and was empty aside from a line of shoddy, frayed cots on one wall and shelves filled with bottles, each containing some kind of strangely colored remedy or item, on the opposite. In front of these shelves were a large table and several seats. At the end of the room was the wide-open entrance to one of the dorms. In front of the towering shelves was the room's one inhabitant.

This girl was quite different from other Gerudo. For starters, her hair was extremely curly and a slightly lighter red than the others – kept together with a long, traditional Gerudo hair band, low on the crown of her head. Her skin was also a bit less bronze than everyone else's. She had scrawny arms with ripped bandages wrapped around her wrists. These weren't for her own health purposes, merely to be in a convenient place if she needed them for a patient. She wore an orange uniform, yet had no gems to decorate it like most others did. Her top was awfully worn.

Nabooru knew this girl quite well; she was not fully Gerudo, yet not fully anything else, either. She was a crossbreed of Gerudo and Hylian and was looked down on for that. This was why she worked in the infirmary instead among the thieves. But she had been a friend with Nabooru since they were children, despite getting in trouble all the time for being around each other. Nabooru was closer to her than she was Rida or Lara or Dimah – in fact the only one that she could really call a 'friend' of all of them.

She heard Nabooru as she came in and spun around.

"Huh? Who's there?"

Nabooru grinned at her. "Hey Sera. It's just me."

Sera's shoulders dropped and she sighed in relief. "Oh… thank goodness." The nurse recollected herself and straightened her back, shifted her weight to one leg and put her hands on her hips. "Well, what can I do for you?"

"I just want to chat."

Sera nodded. "Well take a seat, then."

Nabooru plopped down on one of the stools near the shelves as Sera turned to them, taking a bottle down and wiping it with a cloth.

The thief leaned back and stretched her legs out in front of her. "Have you heard about Hanin?"

Sera glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. "The Prince's advisor? I have not."

Her friend shrugged and shut her eyes. "She was apparently killed earlier today."

"Huh?!" Sera gasped, turning her head fully. "By whom? Why?"

"The twins. And no one knows why," Nabooru added.

Sera lowered the remedy bottle she held. "What _do_ they know?"

"She was found dead in the conference room with a big hole in her chest. The Prince was in the room with her, but the wound she had was obviously caused by magic. Actually…I kind of would have expected that someone would have fetched you the moment it happened."

The half-Gerudo hummed and returned to rubbing the glass of the bottle. "Nah, they try to avoid calling me if they need to. As you should know."

And she did. As Sera got older, many more of the Gerudo had gotten weary of her taking medical care of them. Considering her Hylian blood, the people she lived with were slowly beginning to lose trust in her Gerudo side, in fear that the Hylian part of her would want revenge for her parents. The Gerudo hated her, as most Hylians probably would if she went out into their world, which earned her such a low-class place and little respect.

"Well, anyway, what did you want to talk about other than that?" Sera inquired further after a long silence.

Nabooru took a deep breath and ran a hand through her ponytail. "The woman who is going to take Hanin's place is also...making me quite curious."

The nurse raised an eyebrow and set the bottle she held back in its place on the shelf, picking up another one. "Has the Prince already chosen someone?"

"Not yet. He's supposedly choosing someone as soon as possible."

"And?"

Nabooru sighed and laced her hands behind her head. "Well…I'm afraid he's going to choose me." At this, Sera laughed loudly. The thief sat straight up and rested her elbows on her knees. "Hey, listen for a second!"

The curly-haired girl set the bottle she held down and covered her mouth with her hand. "I – ahaha – I'm sorry!" she managed through laughter. "But… Nabs, why on earth would his Majesty pick you?"

"I was just getting to that!" Nabooru yelled, causing her friend to jump and stop her laughter immediately. The Gerudo took a deep breath. "Sorry… Well here's what happened."

Nabooru began to explain her night with the Prince to Sera. The nurse kept quiet as she explained and saved her questioning until the end.

"…How did you two not get caught?" she asked, leaning over the table on her arms. "Kanji would have you murdered if she knew!"

"I know. But I honestly have no idea how we pulled off staying up as long as we did. And what has me even more surprised…" Nabooru trailed off and stared at the edge of the wooden surface in front of her.

Sera tilted her head. "What?"

Her friend rested her arms on the table and rested her head on them. "Keep a secret?"

"As always," she replied with a nod.

"Okay… it's… really a strange concept, but I… the experience of actually talking to him like I did kinda made me think about him more and… feel really bad about some of the things I had said when I was a kid."

"Really?"

Nabooru nodded and looked Sera right in her blue eyes – an uncommon thing among Gerudo. "Yeah. And I really don't know why! We talked about constellations all night!"

Sera chuckled and looked at her own arms. "Ah Nabs…"

"I really hate him."

The nurse continued to quietly laugh as she stood and pushed her curly ponytail back over her shoulder. "Maybe," she said, "You should try and get past your hotheaded attitude for once and then try to think about all of this again."

Nabooru opened her mouth to counter that, but was cut off when the voice of a guard called into the infirmary, "Sera! Sera, get out here now!"

Said girl glanced at the door. "Coming!" She looked back at Nabooru apologetically before dashing outside to the ones calling her.

Now Nabooru was alone again.

She stood from the chair she sat at and pushed it in, wandering out of the room. A good deal of her head was yelling at her for leaving her post from the prison like she did – now Kanji was _really_ going to throw a fit – but the other part was enjoying the feeling of being rebellious. Nabooru felt the hot mid-morning sun heat up her skin and face as she stepped out into its rays.

The thief saw Sera speaking with two guards for a moment before they took her by the shoulders and pushed her towards another part of the fortress. Nabooru silently felt pity for her friend, and then turned her attention to the guards that were approaching 'her.' Her eyes widened and she looked for a way of escape, but was too slow.

"Nabooru," one of them addressed, "The Prince has requested that you come see him."

Surprise struck her. That wasn't expected.

"U-uh…" she stuttered, eyeing their spears and thinking of how quickly she might be able to draw her swords, "is there anyway I can do this another time? I really need to get back to my post…"

The other guard shook her head and got a hold of Nabooru's arm. "The Prince has requested council with you. You mustn't refuse."

She reached for her cutlasses, but her other arm was caught by the first guard.

"Hey! Let go of me!"

But their hold had the strength of the experienced Gerudo they were. Nabooru snickered and squirmed against them as they drug her across the fortress. Though she was quite strong against them herself, she wasn't quite strong enough to shake them both off. Nabooru didn't give up her fight, even when they had entered an area of the fortress that she didn't recognize.

The room they took her to looked almost like a lounge of some kind. There were rugs on the floor and fine tapestries on the walls. Treasures were all around, as well, and several seats. The guards pushed her in and stood in front of the curtain to keep her from running away.

"The Prince will be here shortly," one said sternly, her eyes narrowed at Nabooru. "And we've been instructed to keep you here until then."

Nabooru huffed and glanced about the room. There was only one window here and it was too small for her to fit through. The guards were obviously not going to move anytime soon, meaning that she was stuck here until Ganon appeared. She quietly hissed and straightened herself out.

One guard leaned over and whispered something to the other before going outside of the room. Nabooru found herself planning for escape but stopped immediately when she saw the Prince enter. He stared at her a moment before turning to the guard beside him and dismissed her. Now they were alone.

"I assume you know why you're here," he began, folding his arms behind his back and taking a step forward.

Nabooru rolled her eyes. "_You_ would assume."

He responded with a heavy breath. Ganon eyed the rugs on the floor. "Right…"

The thief before him pursed her lips and glanced around the room, admiring its treasures. "But to be honest, I'm really not sure why I'm here." She made a disgusted face. "Why'd you drag your guards out through the fortress to bring me?"

He looked at her, though she was facing away, with an eyebrow raised in interest. "Ah, well… I assume you've heard of Hanin's death."

Nabooru nodded and she felt that surge of guilt again. She didn't look for the Prince's eyes.

"And that I am in search of a new advisor?"

Her heart dropped and her eyes went wide. Nabooru flicked her head around quickly, only to be met with an intent stare.

"Oh no…no, there is absolutely no way!"

Ganon looked at his feet, not shyly but perhaps in irritation. "You really have no choice…"

She was shocked at his words and had to bite her lip, hard, to keep herself from blowing up at him. The Prince snuck one sly look back at the curtain where the two guards were standing and then back to Nabooru.

"There's a reason," he said to her, reducing his voice to a whisper and heading directly past her to the back of the room. "If you knew, you'd understand why you have no choice. Just trust me."

"Trust you?!" She boomed, "Why in the name of the Goddesses would I need to trust _you_ for anything? I should have a choice in this!"

Ganon shot her an intimidating look that might have quieted another Gerudo, but not Nabooru. "Hush up! They'll hear you!"

"Wh—"

"The twins."

Nabooru's eyes widened and she smacked her lips shut. The Prince held her eyes, seriously, and then broke away, heading for one of the barrels full of treasure there. He pushed aside the coins of gold and silver and bronze and revealed a hidden garment there. He retrieved it, shook out bits and pieces that hadn't fallen off of it, and then turned to Nabooru.

"I promised to them that I would make you my new advisor," he continued, quietly, "So that things like what happened last night won't occur again. They want to keep an eye on you… and now they won't shake the idea."

He held out the rust-red clothing – the ones for the King's advisor to wear. The advisor wasn't a rank for fighting, necessarily. She was more of a protector to him – there to keep order within him, keep his personal and political life in order. She was one who was meant to stay by his side, follow his orders, and never betray him else she be put to death. She was like his guardian.

"I don't know if I'll make a good advisor," Nabooru admitted with a glare, taking a step back.

"You'll learn. If you don't take the placement, I'm not sure what they'll do to you."

The thief put a hand, precariously, to her neck and swallowed. It was either death, or be strapped to the Prince like a dog… and honestly, Nabooru was leaning towards the first one, considering it was to come no matter what.

"Prince Ganondorf," a voice suddenly called. Nabooru and Ganon both jumped up in surprise.

A figure appeared at the door; a woman dressed in a strange variety of colors and gems and trinkets. Easily, any Gerudo could identify her.

"Maria," Ganon addressed, his words sounding airy from his surprise.

Maria was the second-in-command. Rank-wise, she was absolutely the most important Gerudo other than the King. She was much like his advisor, only was in more control of the other Gerudo than the King himself. Maria was the person to turn to when the King wasn't available, and he had to trust you very well in order to allow you to become second-in-command. Maria was this rank when the previous King had passed away, so many trusted her. Nabooru found the middle-aged woman to be a bit scary at times, considering her seriousness and straightforward attitude… though that was probably why the previous King had chosen her in the first place.

Then an idea seeped into Nabooru's mind. She glanced back at the clothing Ganon was still holding.

"The nurse and several guards need you so that we can gain access to Hanin's things and bury some of them with her," Maria stated. "Assuming you have a key, that is."

"Yes, yes," Ganon replied, nodding.

Maria suddenly took notice of the bundle in his arms. She cocked a slim eyebrow and then turned her eyes up to Nabooru.

Oh and that was another thing – Maria didn't particularly like Nabooru for her disrespect and treason to the Prince.

"What is going on here?" the second-in-command asked slowly.

Ganon opened his mouth to speak.

"I was just accepting my new uniform," Nabooru put in promptly, reaching out to take the red clothing from Ganon. He glanced at her quickly, rather surprised by the answer, and was reassured that he had heard her correctly when she nodded. The Prince grinned and handed her the clothing.

"Thank you," he whispered. Nabooru smirked and nodded.

"Your Highness," Maria cut in, rudely. Ganon looked up at her and she waved for him to follow her out of the small chamber and head to Hanin's old quarters. He trailed after her, allowing the curtain blow about a little as he left.

Nabooru – alone once again – looked down at the bundle she held steadily. She set it down on a nearby table and lifted up the top, looking the uniform up and down. It was much neater and cleaner than her current, white guard's uniform. This one had many more embellishments and designs on it, as well as gems. It showed her authority.

"I'm the Prince's advisor," she muttered to herself, stroking the ruby sewn onto the center of the shirt. With a sigh she huddled the clothing together again and left the chamber.

**Author's Notes:**

** So, here we go with the next chapter. This one is more focused on Nabooru, as you have probably noticed. The story 'is' going to be focused more on Ganon in the times to come, so you can look forward to that. Also, I know there are lots of OC's here, but you know, Gerudo Valley is a big place and only a few are really mentioned, name-wise. Don't worry; none of them are going to have huge parts aside from Sera.**

** Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter and stay around to read the next one!**

**~KK**


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